Chelsea V Leeds United FA Cup Semi-Final 1967

Classic In the spirit of LLL magazine, Jon Howe takes a retro look at some of our most Match memorable moments. Referees, you’ve gotta love ’em? Leeds United 0 Chelsea 1 That’s not my overriding emotion following this game, I’ve got to be FA Cup Semi-Final Saturday April 29, 1967, 3pm Villa Park honest. Sometimes you have to shake Attendance 62,378 Goal Hateley (44) Referee Ken Burns (Dudley) your head at what they do and just get on with it, but today it is very hard to Chelsea (4-4-2) Bonetti, A Harris, understand some of the decisions. McCreadie, Hollins, Hinton, R Harris, Cooke, Baldwin, Hateley, Tamblyn, Like Lorimer’s disallowed free-kick Doyle. in the last minute? Yes, that and GRAY BELFITT GREENHOFF (Lorimer) Cooper’s disallowed goal seven minutes before! There was talk of the referee COOPER GILES BREMNER “re-dressing the balance”, having himself awarded us a dubious late penalty during the epic three games with Sunderland in BELL HUNTER MADELEY REANEY the Fifth Round earlier this season, but SPRAKE the fact is we scored a perfectly good goal today and even Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty admitted he would have had no complaints had the goal been given. But then that’s easy for him to say when it’s too late to change the decision and he’s sipping Champagne and taking measurements for his Wembley suit. What happened, then? We trailed 1-0 and were chasing the game when Greenhoff lofted a high ball into the box on 83 minutes. Bremner rose to flick it on and Cooper arrived unmarked to lash the ball past Bonetti. However, the linesman flagged for offside and the goal didn’t stand. I think Cooper’s pace deceived the linesman because he was definitely not offside when Billy flicked the ball on, but at least this was a “hairline” decision that was difficult to call, and reluctantly, you accept it. Whereas the second one? The second disallowal was just plain bewildering. We were awarded a free- kick 25 yards out for a foul on Hunter, and Giles rolled the ball sidewards for Lorimer to thunder it home for a dramatic last-minute equaliser. However, the Leeds players were left dumbfounded again when referee Burns signalled for the kick to be re-taken. He claimed that the Chelsea wall had encroached at the free-kick. But surely he can give us the advantage? Chelsea didn’t gain from it, did they?! Even ignoring that, Giles insists the ref gave him the signal to take the kick – so he must have been happy with the wall. Inevitably the re- taken free-kick was blocked and cleared Tragic and seconds later the final whistle was Number blown, leaving the Leeds players and 2Goals that never were fans numb, deflated and robbed. We didn’t have a great game, though, did we? No, in truth we were below par today, and lacked a cutting edge up front. Jimmy Greenhoff hasn’t scored since January and it showed, and we only looked dangerous when Lorimer replaced the equally ineffective Belfitt on 70 minutes. But a draw would have been a fair result. And big Tony Hateley dominated us at the back? Yes. He was a rumoured target for Don Revie in the summer before Chelsea paid £100,000 to prise him from Villa, and he looked every inch a quality player here. We missed Jack Charlton’s aerial strength today, as he nurses his broken toe, and this allowed Hateley to take command in the air. In fact, the decisive goal came from this route as Charlie Cooke crossed a ball into the box and Hateley rose above Madeley to dispatch a towering header passed Sprake just before half-time. Chelsea deserved it on the balance of the first half, but quite frankly, we did more than enough to earn a replay in the second. How were the Leeds fans? As confused and devastated as the players. After suffering a wretched previous record in the FA Cup, this was our second semi in three years, and with it being our first semi-final defeat, the pain was made much worse by the nature of the disallowed goals. Given 72 that Chelsea knocked us out of the cup last season, too, there is clearly 73 a growing antipathy between the two clubs, both on and off the pitch. Players and fans have long memories and I think this duel may run and run. Best Leeds player? Nobody was brilliant today, but Bremner probably shaded it for his energy and desire in the relentless pursuit of an equaliser. In a nutshell? That first trophy eludes us again. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonhowe1971 Facing page: Billy Bremner in action against Chelsea in the league meeting. This page (top to bottom): Peter Lorimer, Terry Cooper and Rod Belfitt..

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